


Melting Nuclear Hearts

by Cosmic_Firestorm



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), DCU
Genre: A+ Babysitting, Babysitting, Bonding, Caring, Curiosity, Cute Kids, Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Episode: s01e12 Last Refuge, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Mid-Canon, Partnership, Platonic Life Partners, Psychic Bond, Rescue, Telepathic Bond, Time Babies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 10:31:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8747062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cosmic_Firestorm/pseuds/Cosmic_Firestorm
Summary: Jax wasn’t sure exactly what drew him to visit the babies; it could’ve been any number of things. If he was being honest, though, the most likely reason was that he noticed Grey disappearing at random—no doubt checking up on the infants’ status—and trying to keep his anxiety out of their psychic bond. Obviously it wasn’t working.Spoilers for 1x12, "Last Refuge"





	

Jax wasn’t sure exactly what drew him to visit the babies; it could’ve been any number of things.

Firstly, he knew Rory and Sara well enough that he figured their younger selves might not be too well equipped to take care of the newborns, especially not when their confusion about their kidnapping was making them rebellious…not that that hadn’t been expected. It was _those_ two.

Or perhaps it was out of concern for his younger self; he wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to be dropped on his head or anything, and it had been pointed out several times over that Young Mick was an idiot, so there was that.

If Jax was being honest, though, the most likely reason was that he noticed Grey disappearing at random—no doubt checking up on the infants’ status—and trying to keep his anxiety out of their psychic bond. Obviously it wasn’t working, but Jax tried not to let that on to Stein. He would probably get one of Grey’s more irritating responses, like, “Jefferson, I have no clue what you think you’re reading, but you’re certainly mistaken!”

 _Why ask when I can satisfy my own curiosity?_ Thus, as soon as Grey was preoccupied visiting Ray in the med bay, Jax strolled innocently down to the bay where Mick and Sara were being kept. As soon as the door slid open, he realized that he’d chosen a good time to come; the first thing that greeted him was a shrill infant wail.

“Get this thing to shut up!” Young Rory was hollering at Young Sara, who made a disgusted face at him.

“Don’t I look busy to you?” she shot back from where she had crouched in front of a crate. On that crate was baby Snart, entirely unaffected by the cries from nearby. He was more inclined to fuss as Young Sara did her best to fold his black, uncomfortable-looking blanket around his tiny form. Jax rolled his eyes as he strode forward, glaring at Young Rory, who had left baby Jax unattended _on the floor_ while he wrestled with baby Martin, who was the source of the cries. The fact that touching his younger self—even to help—was some kind of paradox risk gave Jax the excuse he needed to focus fully on Rory and, more importantly, on baby Grey.

“What’re you doing?” he demanded, folding his arms at the thoroughly unimpressive scene.

“This…” Young Rory sputtered; he seemed unable to find the word he wanted for the newborn he was holding. “ _This_ hasn’t stopped crying since you dumped it on us; nothin’ we do makes any difference! Where have all of you been?! We never asked to take care of babies!”

Jax huffed at the complaints and moved forward, brushing affectionate fingertips over baby Snart’s beanie-covered head as he passed. “Alright, alright, give him here.” Young Rory was all too happy to oblige and baby Martin’s voice squeaked as he was deposited in his future partner’s arms none too gently.

“Careful!” Jax snapped at Young Rory before flushing as he lightly bounced the infant and soothed, “Okay, okay, you’re fine now. Easy does it, Gre—uh, _Martin_ …”

The infant latched onto his voice, eyes brimming with glassy tears, though they seemed to clear slightly as Jax continued pacing and muttering comforts, using his best imitation of his mom. Young Rory and Young Sara faded to the background, despite their continued squabbles, and eventually little Martin’s desperate cries reduced to shuddery whimpers. It was then that Jax got a chance to really look at the little guy.

It was freaky, knowing that this kid would grow up to be his stubborn, clever, and crazy other half, but damn if the sweetness didn’t make up for the strangeness of it. Baby Martin seemed to sense this thought and shifted, curling the tiny fingers of his right hand over the front of Jax’s shirt and then contentedly sucking on his left, staring up at Jax all the while.

“Oh, you just want all the praise you can get for bein’ this cute, don’t you?” Jax asked him rhetorically. “You’ve got that look in your eye that says you’re proud of yourself.” Martin gave him a coo in response, muffled by the fingers he was gnawing on, and blinked innocently, but it didn't defuse said gleam in his eyes. From here to his present-day counterpart, the baby’s amber brown gaze was entirely the same, though it usually looked paler behind Grey’s glasses.

“Never thought I’d be calling you of all people _cute_ ,” the young adult admitted after a minute or two, smiling sheepishly. To his disbelief, Martin beamed back, familiar eyes scrunching up sweetly at the corners as he giggled.

Jax was half of a man who regularly lit himself on fire, so his heart most definitely _did_ _not_ melt just then. No, of course not. Even if it had, the moment was broken when another chain of sobs started—this time from baby Jax, who was now waving his arms from where he still lay half-bundled on the floor. Adult Jax spun around to the unconcerned teen Rory, who leaned against a bulkhead, but before he could yell at him, he heard a dismayed “Oh!” from somewhere the door and Grey was swooping in to the rescue.

Wondering just how long Grey had been standing there, watching Jax fawn on his younger self, Jax in turn watched as a similar scene played out in reverse; all baby Jax seemed to want was the attention of the older man, who gladly fixed his swaddling, settled him over his shoulder and rubbed his back until he was content. The older pair glanced at each other then.

“I…was just coming to make sure my newborn self wasn’t being mistreated,” Grey remarked, sounding unusually tentative. “I see you had the same idea.”

“Yep,” Jax confirmed flatly. He didn’t feel the need to draw any more attention to the fact that, by their first instinct, they had both paid far more attention to the welfare of their newborn counterparts than to themselves. Grey too seemed to catch on to the potential embarrassment of the understanding. Unlike other, more considerate people would, however, he decided to broach the subject.

“Interesting, isn’t it, how your young self calmed down almost immediately once I picked him up,” he commented, adding as an afterthought, “And vice-versa.”

Jax paused, deciding to take the question at face value rather than thinking Stein’s words had an ulterior motive. “Yeah,” he agreed at last. “S’not too hard to figure out, though.”

Verbally they left it at that, but Grey’s mouth quirked up a little at the corners and as they took the newborns their separate ways, Jax could feel through their bond that they had shared the same realization.

 _All I needed was my other half_.

**Author's Note:**

> Everyone makes a big fuss over how cute Baby Snart was, and yes, he was definitely sweet, but I personally thought Baby Stein was cuter. ( ~~Don't kill me hehe~~ ) Thus this fic was born! I hope you liked it!


End file.
